The Duelist
by Hypervenom
Summary: The next great adventure for Old Harry turned out to be into a new world, a world that was shared by humans and Pokémon. Growing up an orphan in Pallet Town Harry found his calling after an encounter in the forest. A story about the legend that he and his family became.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

The Duelist

Chapter One: The Beginning.

A/N: This is my first story. It is heavily influenced by various fan fiction writers. Hope you enjoy this story as much as enjoyed writing it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or Harry Potter.

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Old man Evan knew his place better than the back of his hands, he knew about the peculiar hole in the wall through which light finds passage only for twenty minutes every noon, he knew about the various degrees of sound he can make from the floor board as it creaks when stepped on, he knew about the overhead pipes that ran through the attic that would produce a sound akin to low keening wails that countless people have mistook for a Ghost Pokémon. Despite being decades past his prime his mind was still sharp, the rundown bookshelf that hosts a small collection of well worn books laid a testament to that, books he had read time and again in his life, books he now treasured, all things considered that was one of the few things that was left of him. He was a man of routine, not always have been but now he welcomed the monotony, everything was same in his life for past 6 years. There standing in his office of his home for many years he saw something that broke his routine.

A book was missing from its place, one of the few that didn't belong to him, a book he wouldn't have noticed gone if it was an ordinary one unless bending down to check the bottom most part of the shelf, an activity he was sure his aching back would never agree to. He could not see the book his grandson kept, the one he never parted with. It was missing from its place.

A sigh of frustration left his lips, he needed to get that back. He had a pretty good idea regarding who might have nicked it, it was common knowledge amongst the residents of Pallet Town, that a young child was seen often stealing from people, people never really complained because it was usually out of need, what the boy took was probably of no use to the owners, it ranged from leftover food, torn clothes, toys that have been thrown out once it broke or lost its coolness. The residents knew he was a ward at the local orphanage and what he did was never out of malice, people knew the boy did it for his fellow wards. It was the same heart that prompted the residents him included to provide funding as well as donate some belongings to the orphanage, he had seen the joy the children exhibited on seeing the donations, but what stuck with him was the boy, a boy of seven or eight, with unruly midnight black hair, he was of average height and thin like most orphans, what made him stand apart was his demeanor. Keeping watch over what was precious to him, he had seen strength in those eyes that he had witnessed rare few times in his life, those eyes spoke volumes of his character, reflected in those emerald green eyes he saw the eyes of a Guardian.

X-X-X-X

The said boy was lounging by a small creek that ran through the forest, he didn't venture further into the forest and kept closer to the town, although calling it a town was bit of a stretch from what he remembered of massive cities of London and the likes. He was leaning against a tree watching the tranquil scene while leaving through a book, the tree provided a nice shade. Ten years into his into his new life, Harry liked it better than his previous one. He remembered his previous life as Harry Potter with vivid clarity, but most of the emotions associated with that life were muted, he could remember the life Harry had lived, but couldn't empathize with the wizard. He recalled the troubles leading up to and beyond the wars, after the war things never settled as many had hoped, the losses on either side was too much. Yet with unwavering and unyielding will he had pushed on, building Magical Britain step by step with his Brothers and sisters in arms, for the future generations discarding any issues, desires they themselves had. He had joined the Auror Department for a successful career finishing as a Deputy Chief Auror in seven years. What followed was a fulfilling time as a Hogwarts professor that ended with him as the Head of Gryffindor, what surprised many was his chosen subject, he had performed admirably as the Professor for Transfiguration when Minerva had stepped down as professor to concentrate more on being Headmistress. All things considered he lived a good life he was content if what little he could experience in terms of emotions said. He lived a couple of years after his wife had passed away, and on age of 142 Harry Potter, Man-who-won, boy-who-lived, chosen one, undesirable number 1, Professor, Auror, Friend, Brother, Husband, Father, Grandpa passed on to what he now knew was the next great adventure.

He didn't expect death to be this, he was not given an explanation on why he was here, no death to greet him in afterlife. He had to say that this place was a much better improvement than previous place, the town he lived in named Pallet town was a peaceful place, and the air was fresher than anything he was used to, the lack of countless automobiles and industries helped towards that, the water cleaner. Another thing he appreciated was the night sky, it was so clear the stars were not covered by layers upon layers of pollution he had never seen such a bright night sky even though none of the constellations seemed familiar from the half remembered Astronomy classes he had. What he found even more amazing than all of this was Pokémon, he loved Pokémon from the first moment of watching them, everything about Pokémon seemed wonderful to him, a fact alone that made him love this life more than anything.

With a start Harry bolted awake from his thoughts by something moving against his leg, on looking down he could see a small green colored Pokémon that looked like a caterpillar almost the size of a kitten, he could see a bright red antennae on top of its head and huge black beady eyes looking at him, from the trainer cards he have found at his disposal liberated from some bratty kid in the neighborhood, he knew this pokémon, it was a caterpie.

"Hello" Harry spoke softly, he knew how easily the pokémon got spooked, while his interaction with various pokémon was limited, the classes with Hagrid had helped in greatly in this regard. He thought that his old friend would have loved this world. The caterpie tilted its head to the right, observing the human before it and trilled a reply.

"I'm Harry, I live outside the forest" He explained to the bug pokémon, who looked at him with wide unblinking eyes, Harry had a feeling this pokémon was quite younger than the most considering the trainer cards said caterpie evolve within months, that was another topic that fascinated him since he heard about it, spontaneous changes called evolution. He looked down at the small pokémon closed his book and left it at his side and gently raised a hand towards it, slowly moving his hand he allowed the pokémon to track his movement, he placed a soft touch on the top part of its head, carefully avoiding its antennae and rubbed the pokémon, who seemed to like it if the leaning into his hands with eyes closed was any indication.

Smiling down at the happy pokémon he reached with his other hand to a leaf that littered the base of the tree, picking one up that didn't look half dry he offered it to the little bug who nudged the leaf with its head and tentatively took a small bite of it of which it seemed to like well enough and followed with finishing the leaf faster than Harry thought the little bug could.

With a chuckle, Harry lifted the bug and placed it on his knee, and started talking to it, he talked about how he lived at the orphanage all his life, how he was the second oldest at the orphanage and how he helped the kids there. When funds at the orphanage was low, he resorted to stealing, an act which he didn't particularly enjoy but saw the necessity in it. Harry knew that only reason he was not punished was because he only took what people didn't want anymore. At least with the new funds in place he didn't have to steal anymore, which prompted him to take a guilty look at the book laying next to him, he took that book because he wanted to learn more about pokémon, it was a rare book compiling the findings of various pokémon professors that had information about many pokémon of different regions. He tracked it by rumors and by asking questions masked as innocent queries of a child. He felt bad about stealing from the weary old man, but he promised to return it one day and pay the man back for the book, the book turned out to be a treasure trove of knowledge. With only basic education offered to the kids at orphanage he had to make do somehow. He had pilfered countless books that kids have thrown away in petulance, he had bought them all back to the orphanage and kids there loved them, the books ranged from mundane physics text to pokémon biology texts and one half filled pokémon coloring book which made Josie happy.

Looking down at the pokémon who wasn't making a noise for some time, he found that the caterpie had fallen asleep on his knee, with a small smile he adjusted the caterpie and leaned back against the tree to continue his reading. As he continued to read more he was fascinated by pokémon, his first encounter with one was a Persian that the matron had found near the orphanage. The Persian stayed with them at the orphanage and acted as a protector for the kids, though it was fairly anti-social, he remembered the matron telling Bella about how the Persian was a trained pokémon and was most likely abandoned by her trainer. He always liked the Persian, he knew the feline pokémon had a soft spot for the kids. Deciding to get some reading done Harry went back to his books, he was thankful he didn't have to wear glasses anymore, as his sight was perfect now. He had till evening to read.

X-X-X-X

He was walking down the street, having said goodbye to the little bug pokémon , the sun had begun to set bathing the street in its warm crimson embrace, sleepy and content was what he would describe the town he lived in, cobblestone path that ran in various directions, white picket fences that marked the boundaries of cozy looking homes with a beautiful gardens, as he reached the centre he saw a small fountain set in the middle with some benches placed in a wide outer circle he always liked this place. Looking ahead he could see the windmill on top of the hill that acted as power for the Pokémon lab there, he had heard that the professor had a reserve built there for sponsored trainers and for his research purposes. Continuing on his way he saw some shops, selling groceries, pokémon items, the rest escaped his notice when he spotted the café that was opened a year ago by a newly moved in women, he heard that she was a single mother raising a boy, business seemed good for her, the café being packed with people, it was one of the few recreational places here. The other being the beach to the south that was a favorite places for all generations and some pokémon. Harry thought a trip to the beach should be made in the future.

As he kept on walking he thought about his being here, a world that was small compared to the previous in terms of population, a world he had come to call his home, when he had asked the matron about the nature of his birth she had no idea who his birth parents were, and just that he was found on the doorstep of the orphanage with the name Harry sewn into his quilt. He was quite happy about the fact as one of the few emotions he could feel about the wizard's life he led were about James and Lily Potter, he wouldn't have to replace them. He waved at the man who supplies milk from his ranch on his way, that man was always a friendly person, who has given him multiple bottles of milk countless times for free. As he approached the far end of the street he saw a building that was his home, the Pallet Orphanage a simple two storied building housing a total of seven kids, the house had a small front yard, and a small well cared for garden. Entering through the house he was greeted with lit interior, the cream colored walls he remembered helping paint a month ago, the wooden flooring that was showing signs of wear, it was a decent place. He entered the sparse living room, and went past the matrons office to the hall, he could see three children involved in various activities there, he called out a greeting and received acknowledgement from them, he knew the three boys were probably up to some trouble, they always seem to be, wearing a thin smile on his lips he climbed upstairs to the second floor, ignoring the first room that was locked, he opened the second door that lead to his room, a sparsely decorated room, the smallest one in the house, the walls were painted a light shade of green he didn't have any carpet on the floor to cover the worn hardwood, a rickety table faced the window through which he could see the sparse forest on this side beyond the backyard, he spied two girls playing some game on the yard. A couple of books and pens were neatly places on the table. He could see the trainer cards on the table. What a haul it was for him, the trainer card had basic information of pokémon from Kanto and Johto regions, a pretty useful tool in his opinion, a collection of books could be seen stacked on the floor ranging from various topics, a small bed set against the wall, quickly moving to his bed before Josie could find him he lay down on his bed for a well deserved rest. His bed was not the best one, but it was an improvement from his old cupboard and the spare room at the Dursleys.

He was pretty sure not five minutes have passed when a small weight jumped on his bed and woke him up, with a half smile half sigh he opened his eyes to see the smiling visage of a five year old Josie, she was the youngest of them all and seemed attached to him more than anyone.

"Harry!" squealed the young blonde haired pipsqueak. "Let's go color, you promised", this was said with pout that he was sure would melt most hearts.

"Where's Maya? Usually she helps you with colors." He asked knowing how much the other blonde loved helping the child color.

"Maya is outside playing with Bella" was his reply, he could see the pout worsening. She was an adorable little creature, with blonde hair and innocent light blue eyes, a tiny wisp of a thing.

"Alright, alright" Harry sighed. "And stop pouting, it looks ridiculous." Grumbling about having a talk with Bella about teaching innocent kids Harry went outside his room followed by a cheering Josie to help her color.

X-X-X-X

After the excitable chatterbox had spent all her energy coloring he took her from the hall to the living room, he could see the remaining kids were glued to the old television set they got from the donations, and it was showing a pokémon battle. He had only witnessed a couple of battles and that too on TV, what he had seen had left him wanting, he didn't understand the point of battle, why did they hurt pokémon? For fame? For money? It was questions he had asked some of the residents and honestly he was not satisfied with the answers. Although the advancements in medicine and pokémon treatment from what he learned from others let him be relieved to know none of the majestic creatures would be hurt, he had learned pokémon could handle a lot more and recovered fast. A death in a league match was extremely rare. So Harry decided he would repeat what he remembered from being told he was a wizard, he went forward with a wide open mind, and accepted it for what it was.

He quickly moved to a spot near a brunette girl, quickly taping the girl on her shoulder to announce his arrival, the girl turned and offered him a smile as he settled next to her to watch the match; he could see Josie moving towards Nick.

"Who's battling this time?" Harry asked the girl next to him who was a year older than him as quietly as possible. He spotted the Persian curled up on her spot on a cushion idly watching the TV with what could only be haughty indifference.

"Last year's league final" The girl whose name was Bella replied. Eyes stuck back to the screen watching the exciting match.

Nodding his head, Harry focused on the screen he could hear the commentators describing the battle, taking strategies apart and explaining unknown moves to the viewers, he blocked all that and watched the match.

The green trainer was using a Feraligatr that looked to have taken some punishment already, it was panting slowly. The pokémon seemed to be strong from a single look, the scales looked tougher, the teeth that pointed out looked like claws, he was sure this pokémon was a beast in battle. The red trainer had just returned his pokémon which he could not see back, he had missed a good chunk of the match, they were down to last pokémon each, he could see the red trainer take a pokéball and whisper something to it, maybe a strategy or a prayer, he didn't know. With a flourish and a shout the trainer send his last pokémon.

"Charizard let's do this!"The kanto region fire typed emerged from pokéball with a roar to announce its arrival, the draconian fire type looked awe inspiring in his appearance, the bright flame and its size lent credence to his might, with a snarl Charizard looked eyes with the Feraligatr and let some flames loose from his maw. He quickly tried to recall the information from trainer cards, fearsome beasts were what he surmised.

"Hydropump, test him." was the green trainers opening order as the match official gave his signal.

Without any orders Charizard dodged a few opening shots by shifting and then took to the skies to dodge the powerful blast of water from his foe, the water type kept him in check with multiple low powered shots, with a snarl the Charizard met the next shot with a bout of flamethrower vaporizing the small stream of water and producing steam, seeing the steam and using it as cover the red trainer ordered another flamethrower. Charizard sent a torrent of flames down at his opponent.

The green trainer, who had thoroughly drenched the field near him, saw the opportunity called out "Mud wall."

Feraligatr stomped his feet and a column of mud rose up to take the flamethrower in his place, the drenched field proving useful for a creative technique Harry was sure took some effort to develop, the defense stood against the flames and froze into a brittle solid wall as the water evaporated off it.

"Feraligatr, use aqua tail"

"Dodge it Charizard." The water type swung its massive tailed swirling with water right into the brittle wall which shattered on contact and rose up to the Charizard whose steam had blinded him from the attack. Acting upon his trainer's voice the Charizard dodged to his left but was not fast enough and the projectile clipped his wings taking some damage and sends him spiraling.

It was with a snarl of anger that the Charizard righted itself with a flap of his wings and replied with a powerful shot of Dragon pulse, the bluish sphere of energy shot right into the water type causing it to roar in pain. Harry was getting more and more into the match, everything was a blur to him except the battle, he could feel the energy of the match, it was causing a stirring deep inside him, and he loved every second of it.

"Blizzard-3" The green trainer ordered his Feraligatr who took a breath and gather power and the eight foot beast roared and released a veritable cone of ice stream, a powerful move that might end this battle.

Seeing the danger the red trainer called a risky gambit. "Flare Blitz Charizard, full power" on hearing that the draconian pokémon began gathering energy, the tail flame rising high, he become shrouded in a cloak off flame and shot forward to meet the oncoming storm, a resounding crash saw the Charizard break the shield of ice and impact with Feraligatr, which threw the pokémon off its feet, when the smoke cleared it showed a barely standing Feraligatr and a heavily panting Charizard who took a large amount of recoil damage.

"One more time Feraligatr, Hydro Canon" The green trainer said with an air of determination.

"Meet it with fire blast" the red trainer was worried for his pokémon. The concentrated blast of hydro canon was midway when the fire blast was out to meet it, the water powered attack easily tore through the fire blast and struck the Charizard and sent it crashing.

"Charizard is unable to battle! Victory goes to green trainer."

The sound of the crowd through the TV was drowned by the sound of children screaming in excitement, Harry was happy to celebrate with them. His thoughts on the battle forgotten for the moment.

Dinner was a boisterous affair with children calling mock commands and acting out them, he could see Dan try to order Persian around, and all he got in return was a blank stare.

As night approached and Harry sat on his bed, he recalled being happy watching the match, by what he saw, in the battle he saw opportunity, he saw it as a duel, a battle of wits and strength, above all he saw the bond a pokémon shared with its trainer, he liked what he saw, he wished for the same camaraderie in battle and out of it, he now knew what battle was about, it was about Pride, Honor, he remembered various dueling competition he had participated as a wizard. No matter how much Harry had tried to deny it, battle was in his blood, he may have passed it off as aptitude but battles have made his blood sing, it was a core of who Harry was. That was the moment Harry decided to be a pokémon trainer, a trainer with a wizard's experience. An inconsequent battle paved way for the rise of the one of the greatest to walk among them, a Titan among the legends.

X-X-X-X

As soon as breakfast was over he was back at his spot, near the creek, he had informed the matron that he was going out to read and asked Bella to keep an eye on the rest, and he knew she would be up for the task. He was sad for her, she wanted to be a Doctor and he knew it would be a difficult dream to achieve, he had promised himself he would help her achieve that dream somehow. The books he got her were devoured with a passion he had only witnessed in a half forgotten memory. Stretching back against the willow tree he opened the old man's worn book, he looked around for the caterpie he met yesterday, he couldn't find it near. With a shrug he went to read his book.

A good part into the book he understood pokémon better, he learned more about the sentient creatures than he knew, he was amazed to know how they adapted to external influences in ways humans are not capable off, he understood more about the creatures that shared this world with humans. They thought and processed information differently and applied it with vast instincts at their disposal. He was astounded to learn about the intelligence some pokémon possessed, the fighting spirit, and their drive. All of those from what he read made him love the majestic creatures more.

Harry slowly got to his feet. The sun's positioning allowed him to judge that noon was fast approaching, with facts about pokémon in his mind he decided to explore the forest more, maybe he will have a glimpse of various pokémon that called the forest home. He left the book under a makeshift safe he built using rocks near the base of the tree, he knew it would be safe there for now.

With that he walked up and along the creek that disappeared into the forest, many of the residents and the matron had warned him never to go inside the forest without supervision or without a pokémon accompanying him. Harry was not worried, he had something no one had, something that has served him all his life, something that saved his life time and again without fail. His magic.

X-X-X-X

He watched with happiness as numerous Pidgeys flew above him, he could see the tawny birds flying and trying to outdo their brothers and sisters, he spotted a bigger bird than pidgey following him with its eyes, he supposed that might be a Pidgeotto the evolved form of a Pidgey. Dismissing him as a threat the larger bird gave a shrill cry and took off prompting the flock to follow the bird to elsewhere. Harry was happy with sighting the pokémon, he was some distance into the forest. The trees looked strong and tall they seemed to form an impenetrable fortress that acted as safe haven for many pokémon.

Walking down a path which he realized was going downhill, and if he guessed correctly was a little way off from the beach. He spotted various pokémon on his way till now, he had seen several rat like pokémon called Rattatas which soon ran to the bushes as soon as they spotted him. A tiny yellow and black mouse like Pokémon that had a mischievous air to it, a pink Nidoran and a purple Nidoran engaged in a fight. He liked what he saw, pokémon living in harmony with nature.

Soon he found himself at the base of the hill exiting the dense forest that had become sparse as he reached the exit, he took in his surroundings. He was right about the beach being nearby, well almost right. It was a probably around 2 miles away from where he was standing. What lay before him was a large dry patch of rough lands, he could see rocks strewn about everywhere, short grass sprouted sporadically. A small cliff was overlooking the land on the base of the cliff he could see a small pond and a smattering of trees. But what caught his attention was the herd of Rhyhorn lazing in the sun, barely 50 feet in front of him. He could easily count around five or six Rhyhorns that looked slightly smaller than the three foot Rhyhorn sleeping near the tree, baby pokémon he guessed. He spotted three more adult Rhyhorns watching the herd looking for threats. He observed the rhinoceros-like pokémon for sometime before deciding to move closer.

As he moved closer, one of the adult Rhyhorns spotted him and gave of a warning growl that sounded like heavy slabs of stone rubbing against one another, he stopped all movement and casually stood there hoping the pokémon won't get spooked. That approach didn't work very well for Harry as a baby Rhyhorn got angry for reasons that eluded him and decided to charge him.

Harrys' mind worked fast for a plan that didn't hurt the pokémon badly, he recalled how Rhinoceros followed a single line charge without much forethought and entered tunnel vision, he assumed this pokémon was like that and waited for the pokémon to get near. As it approached him, Harry took a lunge to the side easily avoiding the considerably slow Rhyhorn, which had crashed into the tree at his back. What he didn't account for was the Adult Rhyhorns to take offense to his hurting the baby and to start charging him. With a fierce cry the pokémons rushed towards him, the earth rumbling under their feet and throwing up dirt trails. Unwilling to hurt them, he took off on a run to the pond and witnessed the Rhyhorn that was sleeping was preparing a charge as well. Harry decided to rush the incoming Rhyhorn and put an extra bit of speed for his short sprint. The incoming pokémon moved faster than a pokémon its size should, he could see the force of nature rushing towards him, if that pokémon even clipped him it would be put him in mortal peril for sure. As soon as it neared him, Harry quickly changed directions and weaved away from the incoming Rhyhorn missing it by inches, allowing it to rush past him and slam into the Rhyhorns that were chasing him.

This window allowed him to rush past the herd and get to the side of the pond, with a source of water near him Harry was confident that the Pokémon won't trouble him. Showing almost no fear the Rhyhorns quickly shook of the impacts and rushed him. With no choice of peaceful encounter, Harry sighed and closed his eyes, reaching inside the well of energy inside him, he draw it outwards, the familiar tingle of power rushing up his veins was reassuring to him, thrusting his hand out Harry focused on the Banishing charm. The invisible charm left his hand and the force of magic left his body recoiling. The charm rammed right in from of the startled pokémon and ripped rocks and dirt right into their faces and send them stumbling. The Rhyhorns seeing a display of power from the human turned and ran taking the herd with them. Harry released a sigh of frustration while staring at his hands, his magic was not what it used to be, a banisher in his prime had sent a 30 foot giant flying during his career as Auror, and he seemed to tire easily as well, magic was harder to use here. Transfiguration being nearly impossible, he could perform a few charms easily, only facet of magic that worked well for him these days were his Occlumency, his shields were stronger than before now, Harry promised to work harder on perfecting practical magic later. With nothing more to do, Harry moved near the tree the Rhyhorn was using as shade and decided to have some rest, he knew he earned it.

X-X-X-X

What woke him up was a snarl of rage, deeper than anything the Rhyhorn produced, he woke up to see a behemoth of a pokémon standing before him. The bipedal pokémon was similar to a draconian rhinoceros, at least six feet tall. The horn on top of its head looked lethal, he noted a spike like protrusion on its head, though on closer look it appeared damaged, he supposed it might be an evolution of the Rhyhorn, its torso was protected by stone armour that was the very basis of its exoskeleton. He cast a vary glance at the massive tail the pokémon wielded, he would have to watch out for it.

'Ah shit, they've bought the big daddy' thought Harry as he saw the Four Rhyhorns he sent away backing the bigger creature, who he was now certain was an evolution, perhaps the protector of the herd. With a small flick of his hand Harry summoned the sand near where he was sitting and banished it across their face temporarily blinding them, the pokémon responded like he assumed with furious roars and stomps, the beast quickly recovered and slammed the tail where he would have been had he not been already moving when he prepared the banisher. It was a close call, the massive tail had ripped a deep gouge where he was sitting moments ago. Taking his chance Harry quickly moved near the river, focusing a deep breath he channeled magic to direct the water to rise, a thin stream rather than the massive burst of water he was expecting rose and he directed it at the beast. The stream did its purpose of hurting the pokémon and making it wary of attacking him. He watched the beady eyes of the creature as it ripped a piece of rock from the ground and hurled it at him. Thinking quickly Harry pooled his magic and hoping it would work called his protego charm forward, it worked better than he had imagined. A rectangular pale translucent shield in light blue color rather than the transparent shield he was used to sprung forward and blocked the rock easily. He could see the bewildered gazes of the rock pokémon in front of him. With an angry rumbling snarl it bought an even larger piece of rock from the ground and prepared to hurl it at him.

A roar that quickly echoed through the clearing that came from the cliff stopped the pokémon from hurling the rock. Startled Harry looked up to see a sight he found comical. A blue colored pokémon had hurled itself of the edge of the cliff, it was roaring mightily as it fell, the pokémon seemed to be flapping its arms wildly as though it would gain flight. He saw the Rhyhorns scampering away in what he recognized was fear while the beast still holding the rock faced the flying projectile.

The suicidal pokémon slammed right into the beast, aided by gravity the rock armour the beast had cracked in multiple places and it fell down knocked out and kicking up dust nearby. The small pokémon in comparison emerged from the dust looking dazed and announced its arrival with a victorious snarl. Harry was impressed with this pokémon for being alive and providing him an assist in taking the beast down.

The remaining Rhyhorns charged the pokémon taking advantage of its dizziness, previous apprehension forgotten. The pokémon that stood under two feet had a domed head that must be harder than steel, with a single hit of its head the pokémon knocked a Rhyhorn out, it was a one sided slaughter. A Rhyhorn decided to blindside the small pokémon and rushed it from behind, this broke Harry out of his stupor, chastising himself for freezing in middle of battle he performed another banisher on the short legs of the Rhyhorn that made it stumble, allowing the blue pokémon to ram its head into its side and knocking it out. The remaining Pokémon chose to run back leaving the beast down.

Harry released a relieved breath. He wasn't sure how long he could've continued to battle, this body was proving terrible for some branches of magic. He chose to look at his companion, on a closer look the Pokémon stood close to two feet in height. It was a bipedal creature, predominantly dark blue in color, it had a cream underside as well. The dome on its head had three thick gray spiked ridges that ran along its spine protecting the creature's neck. It had three sharp claws on each foot, the short stubby arms ended in dull claws. Harry didn't know which Pokémon this was, being familiar with the entire list of pokémon from Kanto and Johto, he deduced this might be a Pokémon from another region. What struck him the most was the intelligence he saw in its amber eyes, the Pokémon was no mere beast, it was more intelligent than most humans, and there was pride in its eyes. Though it seemed to be painting softly, the freefall and subsequent fight might have caused the Pokémon some damage. As he was about to establish a rapport with the creature, a force akin to an earthquake hit him causing him to tumble and nearly loose his balance, a quick instinctual pulse of magic kept him steady. Looking down at his companion he was not surprised to see the pokémon had fallen down and was now struggling to get back up with trembling legs, the blue pokémon snarled angrily and looked for the source of the attack. What they found was the previously fallen beast rising from its prone position, he could see deep cracks in the Pokémon's armour. The beast turned murderous eyes at the duo and roared a terrible sound that promised retribution.

Harry did the one thing that was safe at the moment. "Run!" he screamed at his companion pokémon who despite its anger had chosen the rational action to run from the beast, proving his earlier thoughts on its intelligence.

"Aim for the trees, going uphill might slow the thing down!" he said to his companion feeling calmer then a moment ago, he saw the blue pokémon running on its short legs as fast as it could. He could feel the beast had given chase from the tremors it caused, the anger was causing the pokémon to make mistakes. As soon as they entered the tree lines he turned back and sent a blasting charm at the beast which clipped its shoulder providing breathing room for the two. Soon he was panting hard as exhaustion of using magic and the run uphill was taking a toll on his body, he could see his companion struggling with the climb as well. As he paused to breath after running for quite some time, he looked at his companion asked "Think we lost it?" the pokémon listened for a moment and shook its head no.

"Ah hell, I'm tired of running, are you ready to fight this thing, the vantage point will aid us." Harry asked his companion.

A nod and a snort of purple flames that trickled out of its maw was his reply, he could see the sharp teeth the pokémon possessed as well.

"Get ready, I will shield us" was all he said when he noticed the rumbles growing stronger. The blue shield sprang up before the volley of stones could reach them, the beast had attacked even before they were in sight. The shield buckled under the force but stood strong, with a grunt of effort he gave a nod to his partner who seemed to be focusing on something.

With a ferocious roar that sounded draconian in nature the little pokémon released a stream of purple energy from its open mouth that impacted the beast as it came to view and caused it to roar in agony. He was in awe of the little pokémon, it had packed a powerful attack in its small body.

"Great shot" He praised the heavily panting little pokémon, who he was positive looked happy with his praise. They watched with horror as the beast slowly shook off the powerful impact and shakingly stood to its full height and charged them again. Harry knew that his companion pokémon was tired and didn't have any more attack left in it, so he did what he thought to be best. He dug deep into his core and sends a powerful banisher at the small pokémon, which looked at him wide eye as he sent it flying towards left of where they were standing. He saw the pokémon tumble in to the bushes away from him. With no further thought he shot the beast a smirk before he turned and ran, knowing the beast will follow him and leave the pokémon alone.

A mad sprint uphill saw him put as much as distance between the beast and his companion, the rumbling cry confirmed that the beast took chase after him, soon he would be tired Harry knew that, at least the blue pokémon will be saved, he liked that pokémon it had a heart of gold.

"Leroy, stop the Rhydon" an unfamiliar voice called out from before him, he saw a streak of purple that passed by him by a flash and struck the beast which he now knew was a Rhydon, the resulting crash send the Rhydon crashing and knocking it out for good. As he observed what was supposed to be a purple mass moving out of its powerful attack, he saw a magnificent pokémon that looked like a grown lion. The major share of its body was a dark blue, bluer than his battle companion and the remaining portion was black, the royal blue mane provided the pokémon a regal appearance, as it slowly stalked its way towards the trainer every movement the pokémon made was calculated. It was the prowl of a predator that knew its strength, as he met the Pokémon's eyes all he could see was a kind and regal bearing of a just king.

He recognized the trainer that the pokémon stopped in front of, it was the old man who he stole from. The six feet tall completely bald headed man was pretty easy to recognize. Try as he might his eyes kept returning to the majestic pokémon that had sparks present at the end of its tail, he really wished to know what pokémon it was.

"He's a Luxray, not common to Kanto" the old man had answered his unasked question, his face soon twisted in to a snarl. "Don't you have any sense boy, running into wilds without a pokémon or with a trainer, you're lucky Leroy tracked you easily." The man exploded at him, he seemed to take a deep breath to calm down. "Enough of that, I don't have it in me to care about you now. Tell me boy, where is my book?"

"It's not with me right now" Harry replied although irked by the use of the name boy. The old man though frail had a fire within him that didn't agree with his appearance.

"Well go and get it, now. And tell me why you stole my book?" The old man demanded him, at his side the Luxray was looking stoic and watching Harry.

"I wanted to know more about pokémon and understand them better, your book was one of the limited ones that exist which is a collection of works from different professors, I am sorry for what I did, I will return it as soon as possible" Harry replied as quickly and earnestly as possible.

The old man stared at Harry, he looked into his eyes. After a few moments deliberation the old man seemed to have found something and offered a miniscule nod in his direction. "One week. I will give you one week with the book. After that I want it back at my house in same condition as you took it. Do you understand me?" Old man barked at Harry.

Nodding vigorously Harry accepted the proposal. "Thank you sir." Was all he could make out before the man cuffed him on his head.

"Come along child, that's enough adventure for today. Leroy lead the way" With that the old man turned away and started to walk, the Luxray released a small grunt and started moving ahead them in the direction of the town. Yet Harry stayed for a moment, feeling a gaze on him he turned and saw his battle companion observing him. In the heat of battle he had forged a connection with that pokémon, they were in sync with each other, there was bond between them now, and a bond he recognized was much stronger than a familiar bond could be. He could see it in its eyes, the pokémon had acknowledged the bond between them, and Harry knew he gained an invaluable friend in that instance. With a quick nod to the pokémon promising him to visit the next day Harry ran up to join the old man all the while the pokémon watched him go.

X-X-X-X

He was thankful that the old man didn't mention his little trip to the forest to anyone, especially the matron. With his mind elsewhere he went through the remainder of the day at the orphanage taking everything absentmindedly and as soon as he was alone at night, he sat in front of the table and under the light from an old table lamp he began leafing through the book he had retrieved before going to the orphanage. The old man had a strange look in his face when he saw the book in his hand. He needed to find that pokémon, he knew it had a part in his life. Even though he was sure that the pokémon was not of kanto origin he searched that list just to be thorough.

After a good long hour of searching he found the pokémon, what he found let him be further in awe of the little pokémon. Under the picture of the blue pokémon was a name he saw for the first time.

 _Bagon: The dragon Pokémon_.

* * *

Thanks for reading.

Edit: Special thanks to a reviewer who spotted the disparity in Harry's age. Yes, initially it was eight, then I changed it to ten.

The bit with Evan was intentional.


	2. Chapter 2: The Boy and The Dragon

Chapter 2: The Boy and the Dragon.

A/N: Updates after this chapter will be sporadic. The pace I have set for the story is a slow one. Thanks for reading!

* * *

It was a bleary eyed Harry that woke up the following day. He had stayed up reading more on Bagon, he stopped for sleep only when he spotted the signs of a rising sun. While the book gave him knowledge about the pokémon, he felt it was not enough to know the Dragon much, he needed to know more. The best way to know more was from the source itself. He needed to see the dragon again, his very being demanded it.

The book gave him a basis to understand the pokémon, he knew more about the dragon, and the suicidal leap he saw yesterday was the pokémon earning to fly. He off all people could understand the urge to fly, there was nothing similar to being able to fly. The need for flight was something that had driven the wizard many a times to play Quidditch. It was this very dream of flying that countless Bagon possessed that has said to trigger their evolution to the mighty Dragon Salamence.

As Harry's thoughts returned to the book he took from the old man with the Luxray; the book had covered information about Pokémon from four different regions of the National League. His native Kanto, the neighboring Johto, the beautiful Hoenn and the mighty Sinnoh. The information on Pokémon were little more than basic trivia, involving the basic biology of the Pokémon; its nature, the psychology of its thought process, its tendencies during battle and outside of it and finally their habitats. He remembered the old man's warning to return the book in a week. Thankfully he had Occlumency, he could easily browse the book and recall what he saw later by meditation. It was no Herculean task for an accomplished occlumens.

He had seen an addendum in Bagon's file that stated no rookie trainer should catch a Bagon, unless you have its complete trust. That was another facet of this world that caught him off guard. The pokéball. The ability to create pocket spaces was invented and perfected long ago during the time of wizard kings. To see that brought about by engineering was a bit humbling. He still didn't understand more than basics of how a pokéball is made, something to learn for another time, Harry thought.

With a heave, Harry pulled himself out of the bed. The orphanage had two baths for the children; it went unsaid that one on the upper level on the far side was for the boys and the girls got the other one. He needed to be quick to have first chance to have a shower before the boys get up.

X-X-X-X

Harry was waiting for breakfast at the dinner table chatting with Maya about the book he had lent her recently, the blonde girl was an avid lover of Pokémon, and she was sure whatever profession she took will have Pokémon as centre point.

"I can't wait to get my license, then I can go out and show the world the awesome and cool Pokémon I have," exclaimed the girl. She was running her hands through her hair keeping it spikier. Harry had a passing shot of envy towards her for her hair; even now he couldn't keep his hair in check. It was the same wild untamable mess as it always was. Only way he could keep it tamed was to grow it. Or he thought with a mental shudder, to apply gel. No way was he going to do that, he was not a bloody Malfoy.

"I'm sure you'll do excellent, Maya. You just have to focus." Harry replied trying to keep the mental image of a gelled Potter out of his mind. Occlumency definitely had its benefits.

"Don't be silly Harry," She was quick to counter with an indignant expression. "There was never a doubt on whether I will be fabulous."

A snort from the Persian laying next to Harry's chair was her answer; the Pokémon didn't particularly like Maya. Then again when you try to pluck the jewel on Persian's head while screaming pretty, Maya was pretty lucky to escape with only a cordial dislike and not severed limbs.

Before Maya could needle Persian again, Bella announced her presence by grabbing the seat opposite Harry. He had no idea how Bella always looked impeccably well dressed, even wearing second hand clothes she looked presentable.

"Cool outfit Bella," exclaimed the ever excitable Maya, who herself was wearing tomboyish outfit of a top and what he thought might be a boy's trouser.

"Yes. Bella look beautiful." Piped up little Josie who had come down with Bella, she rushed towards him for a short hug and then moved to sit near Bella.

Harry ignored the girls as they started an animated discussion that he was pretty sure would go over his head. He remembered the wizard's rule of never engaging women in conversation involving fashion, wise man old Harry was. He turned to Dan and Nick the two seven years old were having an animated discussion on what he thought was about Feraligatr.

Normally he wouldn't mind talking about Pokémon, but today his heart was not into it, all he wanted was to finish his breakfast and find that Bagon.

On hearing footsteps his head turned towards the entrance of the kitchen, the matron a Forty year old lady whose name was Meredith entered the dining hall with a tray of food. Harry knew what the food was before it was served. He was the only one other than the matron allowed in the kitchen; he had helped in cooking the food. Last time Bella and Maya tried was simply put a disaster. Nick and Dan had effortlessly burned water which they had promptly declared was their version of scald.

As the matron passed the breakfast to everyone, he observed the food. It was plain buttered toast with scrambled eggs made from an infertile egg of a Pokémon. A side of lightly roasted razz berries and a sizeable helping of Moomoo milk to go with that. He thought about the food in general, as soon as he had learned about Pokémon years ago and noticed the absence of animals he was used to. He was horrified thinking they ate Pokémon for food, while he understood the need for food that can be met only be killing Pokémon he was sad to know those majestic creatures were butchered by humans, what distressed him more was that he had enjoyed meat the previous night thinking it was the best he ever had.

When Harry had gone on a hunger strike refusing to eat meat anymore, the matron had explained to him how hunting and killing of Pokémon had been outlawed for many years and to do so was a criminal offense in the eyes of the league, she told him that the meat they got was vitro meat that was synthetic in nature. He had at first been skeptical of her, and had checked with a few sources by reading old editions of the daily mail and asked some locals. He had even asked Sally, a waitress at the restaurant about it, every source had confirmed what the matron said was true and he was mollified to know Pokémon were taken care off.

'Later.' Harry chided to himself and began focusing on his breakfast; this was no time for tangent thoughts of his. Bagon awaited him.

X-X-X-X

A quick trip to the restaurant had seen Harry spent some of his money gained by chores. Sally was a sweet girl of sixteen who had given him a small discount on his purchase; apparently the owner had set up discounts for orphans like him. He would be sure to thank her later.

As he neared the cliff the Bagon had performed its leap of faith from, he took a good look around. It looked like a nice place as any. The clearing looked barren, he could see the beach from here and the wind was particularly strong, the lack of shades bothered him a bit. Moving closer to the edge of the cliff, he saw the same herd of Rhyhorn there, what was surprising was a couple of Rhydon standing guard over the herd, he couldn't see if the Rhydon was the same one they fought yesterday.

Hearing a grunt and sound of rushed footsteps, Harry turned to see what it was. He was met with steel like head of the blue pokémon to his abdomen; the sudden unexpected impact took his breath off, though magic helped him maintain his footing. He didn't need to add cliff diving to his things to do for today.

He looked down and saw the amber eyes of the Dragon looking up at him with joy in its eyes; the Bagon gave a rumble of happiness on seeing him. With a sudden wheezing laugh Harry greeted the pokémon, "Hello to you too Bagon." He smiled at the little pokémon.

To think he was apprehensive the dragon might be aggressive towards him, what a laughable thought. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking down a beast of a Rhydon is one of them.

"Come on Bagon, let's find a place to sit," explained Harry as he turned and walked to the forest. Bagon was quick to follow after him, easily matching his strides.

As he reached a nice clearing inside the forest that didn't look was a domain of pokémon. He surveyed the spot, seeing good amount of shade from nearby massive tress; he moved to sit near a fallen tree. He sat down leaning against the trunk. Without prompting the Bagon moved towards him and stood in front of him, observing him with intelligent eyes. Harry moved his hand and showed it to Bagon palm facing the pokémon. With an encouraging smile he kept his eyes locked with the dragon. The Dragon understood what he meant and quickly closed the distance between; Bagon sniffed his hand and butted its head against it, allowing Harry to place his hands on top of its head. As Harry gently scratched the steel like dome of its head, the dragon released a low rumbling growl that sounded pleasant to him.

"I'm Harry, thank you for helping me with the Rhyhorns. I usually don't get into trouble at all," He joked to the little dragon. Who was listening to him now; the pokémon snorted a huff of air, even the dragon didn't believe that. "Ok, maybe I was exaggerating a little." He conceded with a smile.

"I read a lot about you from a book, I'm going to assume you're a girl?" he questioned his companion; something in him told him this pokémon was a girl. The Bagon quickly nodded her head agreeing to him, and nudged his hand again when he stopped scratching her behind the neck. He smiled at getting it right, amazed at her capacity to understand him. He gently ran his hands along her leathery skin, the interlinking small scales was smoother than he expected, and given time the scales would grow into stronger than steel scaled armour that makes a Dragon a terror in every battle field.

A few minutes were spent in comfortable silence with neither saying anything; the pokémon had moved to lie down next to him as he stroked her head, releasing pleased growls from deep within. The tranquil peace between the two were disrupted when a small flock of Pidgeys flew over them, Bagon quickly snapped her head up and watched the flock fly away with a single minded focus that was uncommon. He knew what that was about; it was her dream to fly.

"I have flown before you know," He spoke to her, who had shifted her attention back to him, eyes gleaming with thoughts of flight and a little envious at not being able to. "There is nothing that compares to flying. The vast open skies lay open before you; one day you'll get to experience it, the day you take flight will be a marvelous one. I just hope I can be a part of that day," Reminisced Harry while staring at the sky, as he looked back into Bagon's eyes again he could see the desire to fly burning in those amber eyes of hers, more than that desire he could see her yearning to be with him as they took to the skies.

"You feel it don't you? The bond that connects us; it makes us stronger. That bond signifies more than a friendship; it says you're my partner. Acknowledge the bond and let me help you grow." Harry spoke to the captivated Dragon. "Together we can grow towards heights unseen, together we shall rule the skies, master every wind and current, and in the end you shall be the strongest Dragon that graced the earth." Normally it would've been ideal to build a sense of familiarity with a pokémon before offering to join him, but Harry has long since come to trust his gut instincts; and right now they were screaming at him to accept the bond, that this was his true partner pokémon.

"Let me help you grow stronger, we shall be family inside and out of combat, I plan on building a team after getting my license. If you agree with my proposal, I must warn you; the journey would not be easy. It will be one of hardship and strife. It will push us to the limits and beyond," he warned her. He stood up and continued "But should you accept my offer and then I will dedicate my entire being in to helping you achieve your goal of being the Mighty Salamence."

The Dragon assessed him for a scant few moments, looking up at his less than impressive stature of four feet, before she opened her mouth and let out a determined roar that vocalized her approval of his plan; she would be his partner. His first Pokémon, the first of his mighty few yet to come. Together the Boy and the Dragon with hearts of gold would conquer the world.

X-X-X-X

"I saw very little of your skill from our battle yesterday, from what I observed you have potential, what we will focus on is to bring that potential out of you. Right now you're not prepared to fight serious challengers. That doesn't matter, you're young and we have time on our hands; I will organize training for your accordingly. Are you alright with that?" Harry asked his partner, he was making plans as he went. He needed a solid plan to build from. And Harry had a rough idea on where to start; he would start on the basics and work his way up.

The Bagon nodded her enthusiastically, it looked a little comical than the pokémon intended for. With a smile at the adorable Dragon, Harry checked the time using his ratty analog watch that he had found outside a yard a few weeks ago; a reparo charm that had left him panting had seen the watch look presentable. It was past noon, taking the old black colored basic backpack from where he had laid it, Harry opened a compartment and reached inside and took a sealed delivery package from the restaurant. As soon as he pulled the package out from the bag Bagon was tracking it with her eyes; having caught a smell of what it was.

He beckoned the pokémon over and explained it to her, "I got some food for you from the restaurant, I know Bagon in general enjoy meat. Go ahead, enjoy it." He carefully unwrapped the slab of meat from the package; he had ordered it cooked bloody and offered it to his friend. Who had taken a look at the meat and clamped it with her fearsome fangs and took it right out of his hands, he watched bemused as she used her dull claws on her hand to hold the meat steady and tear the meat apart. Apparently the Dragon was a ravenous and messy eater, which would take some time to adjust to.

He took his lunch, which he had packed from the orphanage. He took a bite out of his sandwich and thought on training his Bagon, first things first; he needed to give the Bagon a name. He couldn't keep calling her Bagon all the time. Right now he didn't have a handle on her character, once he knew her some more he would definitely name her.

He wished he had access to Pokedex, which would've made everything smoother and certainly easy for him. But he knew that was a fool's dream for now. Only the venerable Professor Oak of Pallet had the ability to assign a Pokédex to a trainer from Kanto, it being a creation of his that was constantly updated with knowledge on pokémon. From what he heard from the elder folks; the handheld computer could scan a pokémon and provide details that would require a medical checkup to confirm. Unfortunately the Professor only gave out three of those devices to trainers who showed promise, those trainers would act as aides to the Professor and go out and collect further data to update the information on the ever adapting pokémons.

A trainer's license for a Kanto native was issued on the year of their Thirteenth birthday; the age limit was established years ago. He had read about what happened in old newspaper editions and had heard people complaining about it as well. Ten years ago, the active number League Trainers that registered for gym circuits where at an all time low figure. The Gym circuit matches that was often open to public and subsequent League tournaments where a particularly good source of income for the Indigo League. None of the promising kids had the funds to obtain a Pokémon, or in most cases were not willing to put the effort being a League Trainer required. The life of a trainer was disillusioned; no parent wanted their child to be a trainer anymore.

Seeing the revenue decreasing the League Politicians and various Mayors have taken a heavy handed approach, they had clashed in pitched political battles and provided several propaganda program that glorified the life of a trainer. The League Lawyers portrayed Pokémon as house pets, training to be easy, and they stroked the fire of adventure inside young kids. The age for enrolling was lowered to a measly ten, the fee reduced or waived of in some cases. Droves of kids with delusions who passed with enough aptitude in training have joined the program, it was a massive disaster.

A year into the new reforms, reports had shown massive spike in trainer related deaths and injuries. Many a trainers were killed while going after Pokémon they had misjudged to be in their level to control. The kids had died from a lack of discipline and forethought, by starving to death or from dehydration. Another case reported was of a child found to have severe case of hypothermia because she forgot her sleeping bag.

Smart though the kids where, they didn't have the experience or the common sense to take care of themselves. The reporters viciously tore into the politicians and made them answerable to every death known.

The act was denounced by the public following a major outcry of justice. Only thing that stopped the public from an all-out riot was when Ace Lance Blackthorn with massive support had challenged and dethroned the inept Champion of Indigo. The new Champion Lance came down on the politicians with force akin to the Dragons he favored, he had put a stop to the reforms and had effectively grounded the politicians by barring them voice towards league matters, he had reminded them that League Politicians were for governing civil and administration, that they didn't have authority to go above the Champion in terms of domestic or external affairs. The new Champion and his Elite Bruno had changed the system, for the better if people were to be believed. They had made the routes safer, introduced the Trainer system that benefited a licensed trainer. They had changed the age of enrollment to thirteen years old with a focus on trained quality applicants.

A hiss from his side tore Harry out of his thoughts; he looked towards the source and found Bagon looking up at him. Having finished the rather large meal of hers, she looked positively adorable with remains of the meal stuck to her face; the eyes filled with delight increased the factor.

"It seems to me you liked Sally's cooking," Harry smiled at his Dragon, giving her head a scratch. "It's good that you enjoyed it. You will need considerable strength to be a strong little Dragon don't you girl" He spoke to her, whose response was to snort flames from her half open maw that dissipated before it reached harm and curled down next to him.

With a snort, Harry leaned back and thought 'She has the right idea, a nap would be good,' and closed his eyes.

X-X-X-X

"I have a vague idea on what moves a Bagon normally knows, you don't need to worry about that leave that to me. As of now, I want to assess you and find where your strengths and weakness lie." Harry spoke with what he had come to associate as the Wizard's lecturing voice.

The Bagon was following his every movement, hanging on to his words. Harry noted that she seemed to be filled with energy; he continued, "What I need for you to do is to show me what moves you know so far. Keep anything too damaging away for now"

Moving to stand away from her, Harry watched as Bagon took position in the centre of a clearing they had chosen. It was a relatively big clearing with damp earth, no trees nearby that may cause trouble.

"Aright, easy does it. I want to you to show me your physical moves on that trunk laying there or that boulder over there," he said to her as he pointed to the dried trunk in front of her and the mediums sized collection of boulders to her right.

"And remember to take it easy, this is only the beginning" He called after her.

Bagon gave him a nod of understanding and moved towards the trunk first, she worked up a decent sprint and lowered her head as she ran. As the target neared; with a sudden lunge she struck her faintly glowing dome like head into the trunk. The trunk splintered on impact and Bagon easily plowed through the obstacle and came out the other side with a victorious roar and a delighted expression on her face.

"Great job Bagon, you have a powerful Headbutt," he praised the Dragon who looked pleased to hear that, he was taking mental notes to review later on her form. He saw that she had the underlining basis for Headbutt mastered. He would help her improve on that.

As he watched, she quickly rounded on the trunk and moved to stand near it. Bagon opened her maw and revealed her fangs that would grow to be a fearsome tool in the future. With a faint black glow around the protruding fangs she bit into a portion of the trunk. A large chunk of wood crumbled where her fangs found purchase in it.

"Great work with bite, which will come handy when you face a Psychic or Ghost," he laughed when he saw her spit pieces of wood that went inside her mouth.

She quickly moved back to the centre of the clearing, this time facing the boulders. He knew she had ranged abilities as well, that's why he suggested a group of boulders which had lesser chances of creating a fire. As he watched the Dragon took a deep breath and shot forward a single burst of small flame from her maw, it bypassed the distance easily and hit one of the boulders and dissipated harmlessly.

"Alright girl, ready for next one?" He looked at the Dragon; a determined nod was his only response. He continued, "Show me then."

The next attack took a little more time to build up, flames escaped her maw as she steadied and gathered energy from deep within her let him know what the move was before she used it. Bagon squared off towards the boulders and with a roar released a stream of bluish green fire that struck a boulder and splayed off in multiple directions, Bagon kept the powerful attack for a few moments and let if splutter out. She was breathing lightly from the effort it took to perform that attack.

"Bloody brilliant work there girl. That Dragon breath looks like it can do serious damage. That's enough for now, I have a good understanding of moves you have," exclaimed Harry as he moved towards her. Quickly calming down from his bout of excitement, although a smile refused to leave his lips; he continued, "Once I have a better grip on how you fight as well, then we will begin the real training."

"Take five minutes rest and then follow me," Harry instructed her as he knelt down next to the Dragon and kept rubbing her head. "When you are ready I want you to come to me." Harry smiled. With that settled Harry rose up and moved towards the other side of the clearing and sat down in a meditative position. He closed his eyes and took a breath and reached deep inside him to find the ever present well of energy, which was always eager to come forth on his call. Harry carefully pulled a trickle of magic into his body, relishing the feel of it rushing through his veins and filling his body. He allowed the magic to run wild within his body, reacquainting with himself again. With a thought a pulse of energy escaped him and went out to the clearing. He could feel the energy present in the clearing, so much like his magic yet different, more primal. With some effort he directed the pulse towards Bagon; the Dragon was glowing with power. She was a powerhouse that stored the primal energy, all those latent potential and he would help her gain control of it.

And as Old Harry often said to recruits, the best way to get a handle on your ability and to grow is through combat. He could sense Bagon was ready and was waiting for him in front of him in the other side of the clearing.

"Are you ready Bagon?" Harry asked his Dragon, knowing what answer she would give without looking at her.

He was not disappointed when she gave a rumbling growl that was tinged with anticipation and delight, he smiled lightly. And opened his eyes, the glowing emerald green eyes met the amber eyes of the Dragon. With a fluid motion Harry stood up and dusted the dirt of his brown trousers.

"The only way for us to grow is by combat," he was getting excited. "I want you to come at me with everything you have. Whenever you are ready Bagon,"

He stood with legs spread apart same as the width of his shoulders, hands held loosely at his side, knees slightly bend in anticipation. He could see Bagon was taking this seriously, she was facing him and had her arms up to her ribs, the claws of her foot digging into the earth below, she was watching him; tensed body ready to move any second. They stayed like that for a scant few moments; it was Bagon who moved first. She released a single shot of ember at Harry, who shifted to the side and allowed it to fly past him. The second attack from the Dragon followed immediately with three more burst of ember, he sidestepped the first shot and moved away to dodge the next, he was not even bothered about the third as it was off target.

'Good, she's learning, trying to box me with embers', Harry thought, and with a hand gesture for Bagon to see Harry sent a moderate banisher at her. The charm whipped up dust along its path and Bagon lunged to the side to avoid it, rolling on the ground she found footing easily and fired a hail of ember that was unevenly grouped. Harry easily avoided the ember attack and called forth a protego to stop two that was close.

With a roar, Bagon flexed her tense muscles and concentrated on her energy inside her. He could see a yellow tinge of glow to her body that disappeared immediately. 'Focus energy,' Harry thought with a delight, clearly she was upping the spar. Deciding to return the favor Harry focused on his right hands and saw a red sphere forming, with a quick flick he send the disarming charm forward. The favored charm of a teenage wizard sailed faster than Bagon anticipated and clipped her with enough force to send her stumbling to ground. Instead of following with an attack, he allowed her to get up which she did with remarkable swiftness.

Holding a single finger up, Harry gave Bagon a smirk; baiting her to rush him in rage. But the Dragon was smarter than to give in to his antics, she shot a few more of embers at him who seemed to have a better accuracy than before, each one was aimed to hit him and cause him damage. With an approving grin Harry turned to counter her but quickly faltered when he noticed the Dragon's entrancing sharp eye that had an eerie edge to it; it stared at him with unnerving intensity. With a quick pulse of his metal shields Harry threw the attack of, but he barely had time to call forth a half done shield to counter the powerful flames of Dragon Breath. The bluish green energy slammed into his shield which buckled under the strain of a powerful attack. The shield held for a few moments before it broke and the flames hit met his arm, it quickly burned the sleeves of his black shirt and burned a patch along his right bicep. Biting back a cry of pain, Harry saw that the flames had stopped and Bagon was rushing towards him.

He chose to sit down on top of a boulder nearby and checked his arm; it was a little burned, nothing he couldn't handle. The Dragon approached him nervously and he could see worry in her eyes, the guilt for hurting him and surprisingly fear in her eyes. Harry moved to console the Dragon, "Hey it's alright, and I'm fine. This can be fixed easily, you did nothing wrong," he moved his left hand towards her who flinched in fear as though he might hurt her in retaliation, she calmed down when he gently scratched behind the neck.

"Let me show you something," he beckoned Bagon to come closer. Harry moved his right arm in front of her and took his left hand and held it over the burn. "Watch closely," He focused a bit of magic to his hands and watched as it glowed a faint golden color, he moved the hands over the burn and watched as the wound healed fast leaving no trace of it behind.

"See, better than new", He laughed at the bewildered Bagon who was now sniffing his healed hand. Although on back of his mind Harry thought that piece of magic didn't take nearly as much as effort as the other branches did. With another flick the burned sleeves of his shirt grew from nothing and repaired itself. "Magic", he winked at the Dragon. She gave a pleased growl in response, happy that he wasn't hurt anymore.

"Let's review that spar shall we. You were better than I expected you to be, you have good instincts and is intelligent enough to use it. The bit with the leer was a brilliant move; you knew I could take you down easily so you circumvented that weakness with a clever tactic. We will spar like this a lot more, with each spar we will be smarter and stronger for it. Right now you're young, but Dragons grow slowly and that works in our favor. We will use all the time we have and built you into a powerhouse that would be a fearsome opponent on battle." He could see Bagon hanging off his every word.

Wiping the smile off his face Harry looked at the Dragon and continued, "I want you to listen to me very carefully as I say this, you must face every battle with utmost seriousness; you mustn't ever let your guard down on battlefield. And never let a win go to your head, there is always someone better than you around. Dragons are meant to possess and act with dignity inside and outside battle; pride in your abilities are fine, but it must be tempered with an iron will that you alone control. Do you understand what I mean?" Harry kept the intense eyes locked on her till she nodded in understanding, he could see she was taking everything he said to her to heart; that was good. She would grow to be a Dragon worthy of respect.

"That's enough of the philosophical talk for now; I think you're late for your flying practice. Come back and find me when you're done," he laughed at the Dragon, who cooed at him and gave his hand a gentle bump with her hand. He watched as the Dragon ran off to continue her cliff jumping lunacy.

Harry turned his thoughts towards the battle, while he had Old Harry's memories he didn't have the veteran wizard's battle instincts or battle hardened skills. The only reason Bagon got a hit on him was because he was reacting slower than the memory and wasn't used to fighting in his second chance. Doesn't matter, he thought with a mental shake, I will work my way towards achieving that. He had Bagon as a partner now. They could help each other grow stronger. He thought that was a particularly good idea. With that settled Harry took out the book he had borrowed and resumed reading, he was more than halfway done with that book.

X-X-X-X

Bagon came back from her cliff jumping session ruffled and dirty, but the delighted expression in her face was clear for him to see as she bounded towards him; announcing her presence with a happy growl that erupted deep inside her chest.

"You look like you had fun, Rhyhorns didn't give you trouble did they?" before leaving he had ask her to keep away from the Rhyhorn herd. She shook her head no. "Good girl," he praised his Dragon.

Quickly checking his time, he saw he had about an hour and half left before he was expected back at the orphanage. "We will be doing basic training for today; I will try to correct the mistakes I saw during the spar and your moves. We will continue to work on your moves till you're comfortable with them," Harry explained his plan for the day, Bagon seemed to have nothing to say regarding that. Seeing she was in accord with his plan and following his guidance he continued, "The move that needs most work for now is Ember, while you have a good idea about the attack you need to have greater control over it to make it a good tool. We will work till you're comfortable with it"

Ember was a good starting point for Bagon, Dragons possessed innate control over fire and he would like to build on that control over it. Ember would work greatly in her arsenal as it required low energy and was easy to control, yet it was versatile in its use. That was always the purpose of low powered charms in a duel; to control the flow of the battle. A disarming charm or other juvenile charms in hands of an expert was used to maneuver the opponents into traps. He would train Bagon to hone her ember to outmaneuver her opponents and with significant power to plow through them as well.

"The Bite I saw had promise, but your jaws aren't strong enough to make it fearsome weapon yet. The dark energy I observed was promising though," he said to her in a considerably softer voice. Bagon looked crestfallen when he said her attack wasn't strong enough but quickly perked up as he continued. "That doesn't matter, that's what training is for. And as you age your jaw will get progressively stronger." He smiled at the dragon who acted remarkably like an adorable puppy, albeit a puppy with a head stronger than steel that breathes fire and think she can fly.

Deciding not to overload her with information, he prepared to end the impromptu lecture and he gave the small dragon a pat on her head. Harry knew that bite would be a valuable aspect for her even after evolutions, but the real advantage of mastering bite was in the Dark-type energy it produced. If Bagon could muster significant control over the attack, then it would be a potent tool against Ghost and Psychics. Bite as of now was not able to do significant damage without necessary jaw strength to back it, it would grow stronger by practice and as she ages. Dragons aged slowly out of all the types of pokémon known to man, and Bagon took an exponentially longer time to evolve to its second stage than many of its kind. He had some good years before he got his trainer license, by that time he would be sure that his partner would be strong.

"Come on, we have a solid hour left to practice, I want to make the most of it". Harry moved to take a position to the centre of the clearing, "Chop Chop," he waved at her with a smile. With a bemused expression Bagon made her way over to him, eager for training.

"Alright, we will practice ember first. Shoot an ember in the general direction of that boulder," Harry said. As Bagon got into position and fired a burst of flames that impacted against a boulder in the left side of the cluster. "Widen your stance, move your foot apart. That will stabilize you and give you better accuracy. We will work on attacks while on the move later." He coached her, remembering the little details he had observed as they trained earlier. The next shot was better than her previous one, striking a boulder at the centre rather than veering off.

"Better." Harry said with a nod of his head. "What I want you to do during practice, and only during practice; is to visualize the attack before you use it. I want you imagine the burst of ember flying through the air and hitting the target," he was basing this of memories of magic; he figured the comparison might work. "Every attack is influenced by intent. We will practice mastering intent during training till it becomes second nature to you. Go ahead, give it go"

Harry watched Bagon take his instructions to heart, she stood still with her eyes closed breathing deeply. He could almost feel her picturing the flame in her head, the size of the flames, the intensity of it as it sizzles past the distance and finally striking true. Her eyes flew open and she zeroed in on her target and let loose a burst of ember. The resulting ember was slightly bigger than previous attempts and burned with a higher intensity, the speed of the projectile had increased greatly as well. He watched as the attack struck to the centre of the boulder.

"Excellent job Bagon, did you see the difference. You'll master it in no time," exclaimed Harry as he reached the dragon and knelt down next to her, with a rub on her domed head he spoke to the triumphant pokémon, "Like I said, it is all about the intent, now come on we are not done yet," he got up and moved away from her.

"Ready Bagon?" he asked before pointing at the boulders. "Ember."

X-X-X-X

He had called a stop for the training after he noticed Bagon starting to tire, while he knew she could go for much longer; it was counterproductive to tire her out at the start of training. The plans he had for her were slow and gradual, no use to anyone if she becomes fatigued.

He was regaling Bagon with tales of his days at the orphanage, the pranks he had pulled that no one knew was by him; he had skillfully shifted the blame on to Nick's shoulders. While he was not one for pranks at times he indulged his inner prankster. He could see Bagon shaking and producing a low rumbling growl that he thought was laughter, with a smile Harry kept a hand on her head petting her and being happy she was his partner.

With a quick thought, Harry remembered something he forgot to ask her till now, "Bagon do you have any friends or family here in the forest?" he asked. She quickly stilled on hearing the question, without looking at him she shook her head no. While he suspected as such to see her confirm it hurt him as well, shaking of thoughts on that he drew her closer to him and said; "Well now you have me, and you'll always have me." He could feel her slowly relax into his side and he smiled now that she seemed happier.

He felt the need to break the silence again, "Hey Bagon, what do you think of a name?" Harry queried at the dragon, who looked back at him with head cocked sideways, "I mean it would be nice to call you by a name rather than Bagon all the time. What do you think?"

The little dragon thought about it for a few moments and nodded her head with a small pleased growl. Happy that she was receptive of the idea Harry thought about various names he could give her, he almost immediately ignored many of the ones that popped into his head as they didn't seem to fit her; without much thought he decided not to name her after someone he knew.

"How about Zainne, she was a mighty dragon who was a gentle soul, but would rain destruction on anyone when wronged." He thought that was a good strong name for a dragon, apparently his partner didn't think too much of his naming skills as she hissed at him in displeasure.

"Alright, moving on. What about Azrael, The Angel of Death," he thought that was a pretty ironic name, all things considering. Bagon didn't like it either, she barely even considered it.

"Hela or maybe Saphira?" he was not very hopeful on those names himself, and she didn't like them either. "Maybe, Eurus. Like the goddess of east wind?" Harry asked, he thought maybe her desire for flying might help. She considered it for a moment and shook her head no.

In similar fashion she rejected Zephyrus, Lapis and Venti. The last name was on him that was not very creative on his part.

"How about Lilith?" Harry asked her, he could see her carefully considering it. She was taking much more time with it than any other. With a cheerful growl she nodded her head, agreeing to the name.

"Lilith it is. A powerful name for a mighty dragon," he praised the newly named Lilith. He liked the name; it was fitting for a predator of night. It suited the agile, ruthless and thoroughly intelligent figure of Salamence he read about. It suited his partner as well, while a sweetheart outside of battle he knew she could be a demon in battle. Yes, Lilith was a good name for her, even if he broke his promise by naming her with a name similar to Lily.

"Alright Lilith, that's all the time I have left for today. I will be back tomorrow, meet me here at the same time we met today. We have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks," Harry said to the dragon, noticing her crestfallen look, he knelt down and embraced her softly. "Cheer up girl; I will be back before you know it. Go one take a rest, maybe even cliff jump for fun." He joked at her, he was happy when she gave a pleased grumble in response. Letting go of her he stood up and started to move away.

"Bye Lilith, see you tomorrow." Harry waved at his partner and smiled brightly when she waved back with her small arms. With a smile on his face Harry moved towards to find the exit of the forest and to get to town. He would be back tomorrow.

X-X-X-X

Harry looked through a glass panel to the inside of a store; which hosted a various collection of trainer essentials and supplies. He knew Lilith required training, but more importantly he needed training as well. Harry knew it was foolish to depend on his magic alone to carry him out of scrapes he was sure to engage in. He needed a weapon, his wand would've been ideal; but he understood that a lack of focus was not the issue his magic was facing. No, what he needed was an edge to help him along. With that thought Harry entered the store. It was stacked with Trainer grade products, the bags, pokéball belts; almost everything a beginner trainer needs was found of various shelves. He moved towards the weapons rack, it showed a small collection of knifes and blades, a Bo staff and a modern bow. It was rather lacking in terms of options. He doubted the salesman would let him buy the knife. A bow was out of the question as his arms were not strong enough to pull the sting, a Bo staff was his only choice; looking at the price tag that too was out of the question. He only had 571Pb in his possession and the combat staff cost four times that much.

With a sigh a frustration Harry stepped out of the store, waving at the teen at the counter on his way out. With nothing more to do, Harry moved further along the street to the directions of the orphanage, as he passed the Meowth's Rummage, a junk shop he passed everyday; inspiration struck him. He had a way to make easy money, Harry quickly moved inside the shop he had visited many times before. He took in the interior of the small shop; it was well lit and neat. A rectangular table filled with various items was in the middle of the room, he spotted few bookstands and cupboards at the base of the table on for sale; it was filled with colorful knick-knacks. Hanging down from the ceiling he could see household items, trainer items, novelty toys and a few light fixtures. He could see the walls filled with items he couldn't be bothered to take in right now, what took his attention was the Old lady sitting at the counter, she was watching him with a curious smile on her face.

Moving towards her, "Hello Mo, how are you doing, you old crone?" he asked cheekily. She was probably more than 60 years old, with a sharp tongue and morbid sense of humor.

"Bah, you ugly brat. Call me old again and I will smash your silly little face to the ground." She retorted with a wicked smirk. Mo was an old lady who ran the shop; he enjoyed bantering with her on occasions like this. He had been told on separate occasions by astonished residents of Pallet that she cursed like a sailor all the time, it was his presence that toned her down.

"You wound me you old hag, right here," he dramatically pointed his hands to his heart, with an expression of mock hurt on his face. He could see a small but genuine upturn of her lips, at smile alone took the effect her completely grey hair had on her and caused her to look younger.

"Your face looks like shit now boy." Sniped Mo. "Cut the shit, and tell me what you want, you have that look in your eyes. I don't like that look"

"Aw, I promise you'll like this look Mo." Harry said before becoming serious, "Mo, I have a proposition. What if I agreed to help your sales at the port, I know you haven't been having much success at the Sunday market; because you hate actually going down there. If you let me go in your stead I can help increase the sales."

She looked at him for a few moments and asked "You need money really bad huh? I know you boy; if I don't agree to this you'll find another way. But I cannot agree to this, you're too young to work legally at a store." Putting a hand up to stop his inevitable protests, she continued "What I can help is to give you some money, in return for running some errands for me."

Harry was not put out by this; he already had a counteroffer in mind. He knew she would not allow him to work in her store and frankly he didn't want to work there either. "How about this, I will help you fix the broken items here for free, and if they are sold then you give me half of the price. You get to charge a higher fee for the product and I get some money without working here." He finished his idea with a brilliant grin.

"Are you claiming you can fix anything in my shop?" Mo demanded.

"I can fix anything that is not too complex and no electronics either," Harry smiled at her. She kept her stare on him for some time, Harry was confident she would not pass an opportunity like this.

"Show me your talents boy," She said and reached behind her to garb something off the shelf. It was a beautiful figurine of an Arcanine; with a quick jab of the figurine to the desk she broke it into two. "There, that was worth 70Pb, you fix it properly and I will give you 35Pb immediately, even if it doesn't get sold. But if you don't fix it, you'll owe me 70Pb." Mo challenged him.

He was quick to meet her with determined eyes, "Keep the cash ready then Mo, I will be here first thing in the morning." Harry replied and took the pieces of the Arcanine figurine and dropped it in his bag. With a wave of his hand he left Mo's store, whistling an out of beat tune Harry continued on his way to the orphanage. That will take care of training expenses.

X-X-X-X

Harry removed his shoes on entering the orphanage; the matron was strict about not wearing shoes inside the house. Considering that she gave them, especially him a lot of leeway so he had no problem agreeing to it. The hall was unusually silent; by this time it usually was a boisterous affair, that silence was strange. Bella was sitting at the table alone, he paused observing her. The brunette looked lost in thought; he moved to take the seat opposite her. A few moments passed before she even noticed him, she raised one eyebrow when she noticed him staring at her. He was jealous of that ability; he never could raise the single eyebrow no matter how much he tried. 'It's not fair giving a prepubescent girl that ability,' he brooded mentally.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Harry, thoughts of raised eyebrow forgotten.

"Nothing Harry, nothing interesting," she said. Not believing her in the slightest Harry kept silent and continued to stare at her, seeing this she gave a huff and continued, "Fine, I was thinking about my dreams."

With an encouraging nod of his head he asked her to elaborate, "I have a good shot at enrolling for the school for Pokémon Healthcare, but we don't have that kind of money on us. I don't want to trouble the matron anymore; she has helped us so much over the time. I just wished I got a chance," she said with sigh, her expression of sadness was alien on the eleven year olds face.

Harry thought she was being dramatic; he had to remember she was still a little girl no matter what her maturity portrayed. For he knew that the matron would amass every dollar she could get her hands on if it helped one of her kids. That's not taking into account what he would do to help; he had already had plans to help with financially.

"Worry not, Bella. The matron and I have plans that will help us all in the end. But I want your word that you'll put your heart and soul into whatever you do." Harry said after a few moments with an uncharacteristic sharp look in his eyes. As she gave a startled nod and word of promise Harry continued, "Now that's settled, what else you got on your mind?"

"I heard that Professor Oak is organising a camp for aspiring Pokémon trainers, and I was wondering if you planned on going." Bella asked with a smile adorning her face as they moved to neutral subjects.

"Camp huh. No I haven't heard about that before. But I don't think I will go; I really don't see the need for it." Harry was quick to reply, he knew he won't be able to leave when he was training Lilith, besides he thought he might learn more about pokémon with her than at the camp. He was sad he couldn't bring Lilith with him to the orphanage; he was attached to his little partner.

"Are you sure? I would've thought you might be interested in the camp. I know how much you love being around pokémon." She asked him, his refusal to go the camp might have been a surprise for her.

He gave her a shrug of his shoulders. "The camp is probably for rich brats and full time school kids; I don't have the time or patience to deal with snot nosed brats," he replied with a mock sneer with caused Bella to laugh at his terrible impression of Snape, not that she knew who the dungeon bat was.

"Even though I don't need to ask, I'm still asking this. What are going to do when you get your License? Challenge the Gym circuit or something else." She was leaning forward with an eager grin, excited to know his answer.

"Current idea is to challenge the Gym circuit, maybe even take part in the league. I think I will stick to being league trainer, being a coordinator doesn't appeal to me. A breeder and researcher seems viable option as well. For now I would love to just travel." It was with a wistful air that he spoke, he wanted travel and adventure, and he wanted Lilith at his side.

"That's so great. But be sure to take care of yourself, I know how much trouble you get into," she teased her best friend as was common among them.

"I'll have you know that trouble usually finds me, not the other way." He shot back at her, he knew she got into just as much as trouble as him.

"Sure sure, I remember your brilliant idea of having a splash battle with the Polywags down at the beach, real smart move to challenge a water pokémon to splash battle, or the time you raced the massive Arcanine of the professor," she was smirking at him as she watched him get deflated when she recounted his various escapades; never mind the fact that she was with him each and every time egging him on.

Not allowing her a momentary victory he shot back, "And I remember someone bawling her eyes out convinced that a pokémon would claw out of her stomach after having boiled eggs for breakfast", an amused played at his lips as he recalled that funny incident. Bella too seems to remember if her blush had anything to say.

The two friends descended into good natured ribbing as they lost track of time, happy to be in each other's company.

X-X-X-X

He was sitting on a comfortable plain high backed chair that served as seats for visitors in the matron's office. Sitting across him on the opposite was the matron; Harry took the time to take in her office. It looked the same as he always knew, a grandfather clock took up space on the far left side of the wall, a bookshelf filled with books and loose papers; books too advanced for the kids at the orphanage, although he had managed to read a few of them when the matron allowed him, framing the wall behind her was a photograph of a girl about fifteen years old, he was sure that wasn't there last week. The girl was smiling at the camera and standing by her was a powerful looking Typhlosion a happy looking Shuckle and a grumpy Primeape; with a start he recognized the girl as the matron, she looked a lot different back then, the brown hair in a ponytail and the bright smile was the major difference he saw.

He knew she was a trainer back in her days and he also knew how she dropped out of being a league trainer after her team was destroyed in a league fight. All that was left of her team was the Shuckle who he had heard now lives somewhere in the forest behind the orphanage.

"Happier time that was, I decided it's time that I honor them", she sighed wistfully and note of pain was present in her eyes, her eyes seem to have dulled as she aged, it lacked the shine it had on the photograph. "I'm sure you're wondering why I called you today?" she was scrutinising him in a way he found uncomfortable, those eyes could see past him.

Harry kept quiet; he nodded to her question after briefly checking to see if his mental shields were still up.

"Do you know why I give you more free freedom than your friends, why I never push you to go to regular school like them?" she asked him after a moment's pause.

"No matron," Harry replied; he didn't see where the conversation was going. He knew she was lenient with him, allowing him to take necessary exams without having to attend school. Which was quite fortunate as he didn't fancy attending school again, it was going to be a nightmare having to go through puberty again, he didn't want to be around kids his age when that happened.

"I thought not. It is because you have a presence about you. Ever since I took you in on that fateful day ten years ago, you always had it with you. A presence in you that makes others willing to trust you, to follow you to whatever ends you walk, to fight and die for you. Yet not once have I seen you abuse that for personal gains. It was why I said nothing when I found out you stole from others; it broke my heart to know that you had to steal for my kids; yet I said nothing." She paused mid-talk and looked at him again, "I had lost my fire after my team was gone, I simply came back home and took over my Father's ranch. Did you know Harry, this place used to be a Breeder's ranch. My dad was a successful breeder, but business had dwindled after he died in the middle of my journey. And after everything that happened I decided to shut down the Ranch and change the old house into an orphanage. I could never match what my father has always done, he had such a fire for what he did, and he was my idol." She was getting teary eyed, and he was feeling a tad uncomfortable when she looked like she might cry.

"What I want you to know is that, I have regained my passion. I plan on starting the breeding business back to the way it was. I don't want you to ever worry about the kids anymore, that's my duty. Bella and the rest will get the education they desire, or should they like you prove to me then they will have the accelerated course. When you begin your journey, your pokémon will have a place to rest in my ranch, you can count on me for that." She finished passionately, trying to convey to him how she would do it. What confused him was that, why she thought she wasn't doing her duty. According to him she did her part fine, she took in kids when she didn't have to; that to him was more help than most were willing to do. When he told her the same, her response was not what he expected.

She laughed. Stopping her laughing fit she looked at him with fondness and replied, "Your endless capacity for love makes you blind towards what I did and didn't do for you. One day maybe you'll understand what your presence means for me, for now go and rest."

Wishing her a goodnight Harry left her alone, head filled with thoughts and ideas on helping the matron with breeding business. He didn't pay much attention to the matron who watched him leave with fond eyes.

X-X-X-X

He was back inside his room going over his various books, talks with the matron pushed to the back of his mind; he had a more important task at hand. Training Lilith. From what he had learned, only the most competent trainers could handle a dragon, even then only rare few had a true dragon like Bagon as a starter. He was fighting an uphill battle with no references on training her. 'What a challenge' he thought excitedly, it was his method of action anyway.

He would do what Old Harry has excelled in his life after joining the Transfiguration Guild; the wizard had treated rules of magic as merely guidelines rather than as limiters. For he strongly believed magic was capable of anything, and he had proven it countless times, only problem was magic required compensation. For every impossible act he performed magic took something in return, sometimes it was appeased with blood, other times the balancing quotient varied.

He had a hunch that he could replicate that ability here, he would first train Lilith to achieve perfect control over her powers; and then he would train her more to achieve ascendance to those powers. She would be the most powerful dragon to exist. While he knew his dreams where not impossible, it was going to be hard though. The countless number of moves trainers seem to favor was created by dedicated masters of the trade, if they can do it why not him.

The true challenge he faced was evolution, Lilith would need a good couple of years before she can evolve from Bagon to Shelgon. From what little the book said about her evolutionary line, the first evolution of a dragon was the one that took most time. Thankfully he had three years to start his journey, so that issue was out of the way. On every evolution he would have to change Lilith's training, her base form was bipedal; it would be vastly different from her next two stages.

He looked up from his book to see the figurine of Arcanine Mo had given him as a challenge, a simple reparo that required a small bit of meditation had seen the figurine fixed and good. He would return it tomorrow for the money. The money he will get from Mo was a good source for funding the start of his trainer journey. The breeding business matron talked about was a great idea for an income, aspiring trainers and veterans alike are willing to pay reputed breeders a fortune for a good pokémon. Not every trainer could find a league certified Professor to provide them with a starter or sponsor them, that's where breeders excelled. These breeders could provide the rookie trainers with a starter Pokémon and if they showed the required amount of competence with the pokémon in the presence of a league agent then they can obtain the Trainer License. As a rule of rule of thumb, Breeders only provided rookies with pokémon eager to match with a trainer and it was the breeder's choice whether the rookie can buy the pokémon they want from them.

Some trainers are even willing to lend their pokémon to a breeder in pursuit of the perfect pokémon for themselves or even for relatives or friends. Harry thought that idea laughable, the perfect pokémon doesn't exist, each and every pokémon have their strengths and weakness, and it was the trainer's job to bring out the greatness inside them. Sure some pokémon has more latent potential than most, but in the end hard work will always trump over potential.

That was his dream, to build a family of pokémon and take them to heights unknown; starting with Lilith. He would be the trainer that nurtured them and make them legends. A Pokémon Trainer with the mindset of a Duelist.

Seeing that it was getting late Harry decided to call it quits, he needed to get to Lilith early in the morning. They had a grueling practice session planned. It was a content Harry that fell asleep that night, dreams filled with flying over the ocean with Lilith.

One day they will share that view together.

* * *

Next update will be in 2-3 weeks. Special thanks for those who reviewed. Cheers!


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